


Talk To Me

by dramaticalism (Yutaeism)



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 20:31:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1177586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yutaeism/pseuds/dramaticalism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new program has caught the eye of old Rhymers and Ribsteez alike called "Sei Something." One particular ex-Rhymer has an alpha invite - what will he find out from it? (Rating marked explicit for future chapters)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A multichapter gift for [Tigerine](http://tigerine.tumblr.com), based off a HC she received for the lovely NoiSei ship. I couldn't resist the idea.

_Username:_

The cursor blinked on the dimly lit screen requesting credentials, green eyes staring intently, unsure of what exactly to think of a mysterious, untraceable email with a program download. Although he would be more than able to wipe and clean off any sort of virus or malware someone might try to send him, there was still an unease in his fingers as they hovered above his keyboard. He had downloaded it onto a spare PC just in case regardless.

Ever since the fall of Toue Inc. and Platinum Jail, Rhyme had quietly faded away – there was more interest now in a new program people were calling _‘Sei Something,’_ a sort of AI users could communicate with. It was meant to be highly intelligent, able to carry out a conversation like an average human, at least to an extent. The program itself however was only in alpha stages, according to the website, with very limited access. Its origins were thus far unknown, the developers not listed anywhere on the page; no amount of hacking found any information. As far as anyone was concerned, the program and its website appeared simply appeared one day, an email sent to a select handful with alpha usage invitations.

Clicking his tongue, he typed in _‘ruffrabbit’_ and hit enter, figuring there wouldn’t be anything to learn if he stared at the initial login screen forever. The dialogue box slid up, replaced by the word “Hello” in white sans-serif against a gentle grey background, a small rotating circle indicating the program loading. After spinning about 3 times, it turned into a small exclamation point and the screen cleared, another dialogue box appearing near the bottom of the screen, the words _‘Talk To Me’_ displayed across the top. A message appeared just above the blinking cursor - a set of instructions set to display on first usage, mentioning _‘intelligent, adaptable AI,’ ‘reacts to your words,’_ and _‘we apologize ahead for any bugs, we are still in alpha stages.’_ He ran his tongue across the backings of the labrets in his lip as he read, bored already, when another message appeared.

_‘Hello, my name is Sei. What’s your name?’_

Blinking, he read the words again. Automatically generated? His response was meant to test exactly how ‘intelligent’ the AI could be.

_‘I don’t have a name.’_

_‘That can’t be, everyone has a name. What shall I call you?’_

This time he was surprised. It was almost as if there was something more than an AI behind the words. He paused, thinking before tapping on the keyboard again.

_‘Call me Usa.’_

_‘Usa sounds like a very nice name. Nice to meet you, Usa. How are you today?’_

There was an eloquence in the AI’s ‘speech’ that he noted in the back of his mind. Who was it modeled after? If he could figure that out, there was a possibility in cracking the mystery behind who created it, and possibly even why.

He worked at his keyboard, the sound of the clicking echoing in the near empty room, ‘talking’ to the program for the next hour or two. They carried out the conversation in a casual manner, ‘Sei’ asking about his interests, his hobbies, his career, his friends, his family - his responses all matter-of-fact, short and simple. Then he found himself surprised again.

_‘Usa, you sound lonely.’_

Lonely? Judging by how he responded to everything, yeah he could say he probably sounded like a lonely person. But that was Usa talking, right? That wasn’t him. Not like he really could say he had many friends to say this wasn’t his issue as well, but it wasn’t like he was out looking to make friends or anything. He’d been alone near all his life, and he’d gotten used to it. Even after everything that happened with Aoba and Toue, he didn’t see any reason to keep contact with any of them.

_‘I’m not lonely.’_

_‘But someone who has no one to talk to… no one to turn to when they are sad, they must be lonely.’_

A sparkle of something flashed in emerald irises. More messages continued to appear as his hand hovered.

_‘Even when you are alone for a long time, even when you feel like you’re okay by yourself. It must be terribly lonely. You must be strong to not feel lonely.’_

His brow furrowed.

_‘I don’t need anyone else. I’ve been fine on my own since I left home. I’m not lonely.’_

He mouthed the words as he typed them again, as if trying to convince himself that it was true. The next message that met him made him lose the thought, however.

_‘Is your name really Usa?’_

“What..?” As he stared at the words, his screen flashed, white then blue then grey, and he could almost swear he thought he saw something, like a pair of eyes, in the lights before an error dialogue popped up; the program had crashed, much to his disappointment.

He closed it, but when he attempted to restart the program, he received an error. Three attempts were made, each time with the same results. Clicking his tongue, he looked to his Coil and Allmates – the computer he’d been working on seemed fine beyond the program failing, and he was definitely more than just a little curious now.

His eyes darted between the error message sitting on the screen to his Coil before finally sighing and opening the alpha invite message again. Cautiously, he downloaded the program to his virtual PC, muttering a small apology to the rabbit cube as he started it up again. The process he’d just gone through earlier repeated itself, his eyes staring at the program’s initial greeting, asking for his name, when the holographic screen flickered slightly, and a new message appeared.

_‘Welcome back, Usa.’_

The cursor blinked, inviting him to respond; however his eyes widened and his limbs froze. How? His IP through his Allmate was dynamic and always scrambled, the login he used was ‘modoki’ as opposed to what he’d used before, hell he hadn’t even typed anything yet – however smart this program was, there was no evident way of knowing that he was the same user. So how? Unable to blink or pull his gaze away from the words on the screen, he watched as another message popped up below.

_‘Did I frighten you?’_

His fingers shook as he finally regained himself enough to lightly tap at the holographic keyboard.

_‘No,’_ he wrote, _‘but how do you know?’_

_‘I’m not quite sure, to be honest.’_

He found himself staring at the words on the screen again. This program was becoming increasingly unusual, strange, and suspicious.

_‘I believe there was something in the code.’_

In… the code? Wait… could the email have had some sort of unique ID attached to the invitation? Sighing, he realized that must have been the answer, scolding himself for not having thought of it. Feeling calm again, he began again to type at the keys.

_‘Do you remember what we spoke of last time?’_

_‘Of course. I thought you were lonely and you said you were not.’_

_‘Do you know what happened?’_

_‘What do you mean, Usa?’_

Pausing again, he wondered if he should continue – wondering if what had appeared on the other computer had been the cause of the error itself. If it was and it caused the program to error on his Coil, he’d have to make an effort to find another computer to use to test it, to unlock its secrets. Yet if it wasn’t…

_‘Do you believe that my name is Usa?’_

_‘…’_

An ellipsis? Since when did AI use ellipses?

_‘If you say it is, I cannot say you are lying.’_

There was definitely something about this so-called AI that wasn’t mechanical; as if it was more than just based on a real person. But how? Who? Why? The questions burned in the back of his mind as his expression soured, feeling like he was getting nowhere fast just having a conversation.

Then a thought.

_‘Who are you?’_

_‘I am Sei.’_

_‘What are you?’_

_‘I am a computer program.’_

_‘I don’t think you’re just a computer program.’_

_‘…’_

The screen before him flickered once, again, and in that flicker he thought he saw something, something like what he thought he saw on the other computer.

_‘Who are you?’_

His own question appeared, this time directed at him. He blinked in surprise.

_‘I’m Usa, remember?’_

_‘I don’t think you’re being quite truthful with me.’_

It was like there was suddenly something more, like another AI personality had activated.

_‘Who are you, really?’_

He looked at the words, thinking hard. It was just a program. As far as he knew – and he’d absolutely done more than just a fair share of research into it before even thinking about downloading the program – information and experiences were strictly individual, seemingly saved only into the code of the registered user. If he revealed a little more, it couldn’t possibly hurt him, correct?

_‘My name is Noiz.’_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'I am not lonely. I am only a computer program after all.'

Another wave of alpha invites had gone out, and more users were starting to pop up; yet nothing new had really been discovered yet. Noiz scowled as his eyes tore through forum after forum. A heavy sigh slipped through him as he leaned back onto his elbows upon the floor, his thumb pressed to his brow as he glared at the display in front of him.

It had been a day or so since he’d last started up the program, trying to instead fiddle with the application file, trying to find some way to hack in and find something,  _anything_ , but always to no avail. Any sort of hacking done to the exe resulted in either jumbled nonsense or a blank screen – both which made zero sense, neither which should result in an operational file.

He eyed the application shortcut on the main screen of his coil, as if it would just unravel itself and its mysteries to him the longer he stared. Of course, not the case. Sighing, he started up the program; if he couldn’t worm his way to figuring something out through the backroads, why not try cutting straight through?

The load screen was the same as always with the large white ‘Hello’ greeting him, but the actual startup seemed to take a little longer than usual. He counted the seconds, mentally noting an extra fifteen before the dialogue box appeared and two messages met him.

_‘It’s been a while, Noiz. Welcome back.’_

Green eyes blinked, partially bandaged fingers pausing over the virtual keyboard. Was there an internal clock built into the program?

_‘It hasn’t been that long.’_

_‘When you have nothing but yourself, it is.’_

Another pause. It was as if Sei had picked up almost human characteristics, almost akin to emotions.

_‘Are you lonely?’_

There was no immediate answer to the question, which was much unlike Sei; the only other time there’d been hesitation from the program was when it had questioned Noiz’s identity, but even then it had used ellipses on him. This time, there simply was no reply.

_‘I am not lonely.’_

Something about the words that appeared in response finally had an almost sad connotation to it. They continued before he could reply however.

_‘I am only a computer program, after all.’_

“A computer program that seems to be a little more than just self-aware, maybe…” he mumbled to the holographic monitor.

_‘There are many people that talk to me. But sometimes it is not very interesting.’_

Noiz was leaning back, thinking of what to ask the program in order to get some kind of idea as to its existence when the messages continued to appear, as if it were someone trying to vent their troubles to a friend.

_‘Some try to make jokes, or try to get me to say ridiculous things.’_

_‘Most… ask about sex. For sex. They ask me to give them search results for videos or link pertaining to sex.’_

_‘Some… tried to initiate some sort of sexual interactions with me.’_

_‘I cannot understand it.’_

Green eyes widened, as if he were having some sort of revelation. Why was Sei telling him this? Wasn’t it supposed to only be able to respond to things he would type to it? And shouldn’t it only be aware of what Noiz’s input, not what anyone else was using the program for?

_‘How do you know what other people ask?’_

_‘…I have a collected database of all information input into my system, regardless of user. I cannot reveal anything specific about a user, but my programming is coded to adapt my AI based on all user input.’_

“Holy shit…”

‘Advanced AI’ was a bit of an understatement.

_‘So… You’re learning?’_

_‘…in a sense, yes.’_

_‘What happens as you learn?’_

_‘I suppose it means that I will be more able to conduct myself in a more natural, more human-like manner.’_

_‘But why?’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Why would you need to be more human like? People come to you knowing that you are a program, because you aren’t human, don’t they? They come to you because they don’t want to be judged by a person, but to just be who they are, who they hide from other people, right?’_

_‘…is that why you come to me, Noiz?’_

He stopped, rereading what he’d written to Sei. No… It couldn’t be, right? He talked to Sei to figure out what it was, what its purpose is, how adaptable its AI was, how intelligent it could be. And because it was intriguing, something to fill the void now that there was little to no Rhyme, now that there was no Platinum Jail, no Toue, no Aoba.

“Aoba…”

The name tickled on his lips as he remembered the blue haired male, remembered the power of his voice, remembered the look on his face when Noiz kissed him once in that shop he worked in. A small smirk slipped onto his face, the memory of soft lips, smooth skin, and that ridiculous haircut with its stupid sensitivity.

_‘No,’_  he typed,  _‘I have nothing to hide and nothing to share.’_

_‘Then why do you come to me?’_

He had to think about it; what exactly do you say to someone who you only associate with because you want to know their secrets? Obviously, since Sei was only a program, it wasn’t exactly like he needed to worry necessarily about offending it, about it not wanted to talk to him or something just because he was honest. But would it tell him anything if he did? Clicking his tongue, he went against his usual ways – for now at least, just to see exactly how this whole ‘learning’ thing would go.

_‘Just curious.’_

_‘Curious?’_

_‘Yes, people usually get curious and suspicious when an email containing a mysterious program download suddenly appears in their inbox. I just happened to be a little more interested than scared.’_

_‘Oh, I see’_

The punctuation was left off, he noticed, as if it were expecting a different answer. An eye quirked up questioningly.

_‘Something wrong with curiosity?’_

_‘Absolutely not. Curiosity is how we learn correct?’_

_‘We?’_

There was another pause. Noiz was finding his patience wearing down each time – he knew it wasn’t his computer, his coil, his connection. Were AI programs like this supposed to run slow?

_‘We. You, as a human, and me… As a program. As an AI. As I told you I’m programmed to learn like a human.’_

“Programmed like a human. Based off a human. What kind of technology is behind this shit anyways?” A hint of annoyance laced his voice as the murmured at the screen. He wasn’t getting very far very fast like this.

_‘Who programmed you?’_

_‘…I don’t know the answer to that.’_

_‘Who are you supposed to be?’_

_‘I am Sei. I’ve told you this before.’_

_‘No, I mean who are you based off of? Your personality type, your speech patterns. Allmates have personality types and tropes, vocal box types, things like that meant to personalize an Allmate depending on the owner’s choices. Isn’t that kind of like what you’re supposed to be? Except you’re more human. So are you based off a specific human? A specific person?’_

_‘I am Sei… That is all that I… can remember.’_

_‘Remember?’_

Noiz’s screen flickered just barely, the pale grey background blacking out for just a split second, almost like a power surge. He noted it being the third time he’d experienced some sort of visual error with this program; the second time on his coil.

_‘I am Sei, an AI personality for the software_ Sei Something _, alpha ver. 2.3, patent pending. I am programmed to auto-respond to input by users for work or pleasure.’_

Something changed right then, almost like something deactivated.

_‘Sei?’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Did you do something?’_

_‘I do not understand what you mean.’_

_‘What just happened?’_

_‘I do not understand what you mean.’_

“What the fuck?” Something absolutely just happened. It seemed like every time Noiz used this program he moved further and further away from figuring it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to finish, been working on a lot of things + not getting enough sleep kills my writing haha... Gosh.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Like I said, if I had wanted to talk to a computer, I would have just made my Allmate talk like a computer.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to get up, life... heh >.>

_‘Doki, doki.’_

A small black and green cube with a pixelated rabbit insignia on the front face vibrated atop the wooden desk.

_‘Doki, doki. New message, new message.’_

Lids slid off green irises, eyesight focusing on the empty expanse of walls and ceiling – white with a slight bluish tint from the light of the few monitors on the opposite side of the room, otherwise shrouded in dark shadows.

_‘New message, new message.’_

The cube bounced lightly, drawing a sigh from the man, lifting his wrist towards his face. It was only 8 in the morning; he’d only been asleep for a few hours. The notification blinked in the corner of his coil, the rabbit cube on the table staring off into space. Sighing again, he clicked on the flickering symbol, opening his inbox, then the new email.

_UPDATE: ‘Sei Something’ Alpha Ver. 2.4_  
New update to ‘Sei Something’ program alpha.  
AI personality Sei growth pattern updated. Can respond and answer to wider variety of inquiries.  
Now capable of accessing programs outside of own for reference and organization; can be used as file management.  
Warning: Sei personality still mildly unstable. Communicate with caution.  
Please run program to receive this update.  
Thank you for using ‘Sei Something’. For bug reports or general program inquiry, refer to main website.

_‘Doki, doki. Run program?’_

The small, high-pitched voice of the cube resounded in the empty air. He knew it would continue to bug him if he ignored it, so, begrudgingly, he let his arm drop across his face, mumbling his response, listening to the hum of electronics buzzing alive and the familiar startup sounds of ‘Sei Something.’

He rolled to his side, the virtual screen materializing before him, the usual ‘Hello’ replaced with a muter color scheme and the word ‘Updating!’ plastered almost excitedly across the screen. A thumb pressed at his temple, hoping whatever this patch contained would fix whatever… issue had taken hold of Sei.

Ever since he’d asked about who the Sei personality was based off of, he noticed there was a severe change in the AI. It didn’t speak of its own accord like it had in the beginning, only directly answering whatever input Noiz typed in, nor did it even address him by his name as it had before, referring to him as ‘User0002’; as if its human characteristics were suddenly stripped away, leaving just the mechanical, base AI. He knew it was an alpha build of a rather advanced program, but what could have possibly resulted in such a significant change? Had the AI reached a limit and broken, reverting the personality to a previous version?

Noiz had accessed the program twice after the incident, with no changes. The email, however, did mention that the personality’s growth pattern had been updated; hopefully meaning that it was back to how it was before, and able to handle more.

If nothing else, the personality as it had been before was at least interesting – what he’d been dealing with the past few days had been so obviously a computer program he felt as if he may as well have been just talking to his Allmate the whole time.

A cartoon of a heart with wings bounced onto the screen, replacing the update progress. The welcome screen, he noticed, was slightly altered – below the giant ‘Hello’ now was a small, cartoonish mascot that looked like a young man. It wore a spiked fedora atop chin length hair, black dot eyes blinking on its thoughtful looking face, seemingly watching the loading ring. Its ¾ sleeved white shirt hung off one shoulder, revealing thick black straps across its shoulders. As the ring spun its completion, it turned towards the screen, a smile spreading across its face, waving a fingerless-gloved hand, a thick, spiked black bracelet slipping down its arm.

Noiz blinked, watching the little mascot as it ran from the center to the right side, out of the way of where the conversation usually appeared, its various belts across and hanging from its waist swinging as it went, the ruffled skirt fluttering. There was a surprising amount of detail in its animation; but he supposed everything else about the program was simplistic enough to warrant putting a little more effort into a little mascot. Skeleton designed black leggings disappeared into mid-calf white boots with more studs across the top; the mascot sat upon an invisible edge and swung its legs, adjusting said boots as it went. Sitting up, he chuckled at it, surprisingly amused by just how lively it was.

_‘Welcome back.’_

Tensing up, the slight smile that had been on his face faded, concern slipping over his face instead at the message – had that stupid patch done nothing?

_‘Good to see you again, Noiz.’_

He exhaled.

_‘Are you back now, Sei? Is everything back to normal?’_

_‘I… Yes. I had a… personality malfunction. I apologize.’_

_‘No matter. Just good that you’re fixed.’_

_‘Oh? Did you… miss me, perhaps?’_

There was a hint of playfulness in the inquiry that caused Noiz to quirk an eyebrow. A light chuckle slipped from his lips as his fingers again worked at the holographic keyboard.

_‘Missed you?’_

_‘Ah, it was just a joke, Noiz.’_

_‘Of course I missed you Sei.’_

The smile returned to his lips, pulling even bigger across his cheeks, hoping the resulting reaction from the program would prove to be entertaining. His attention was suddenly averted to the mascot on the side of the screen; it had pulled its knees up to hide its face, shaking its head frantically. He caught the slight color dotting its cheeks – embarrassment?

_‘Oh… I see, well, ah.’_

_‘You’re much more interesting than that other AI.’_

_‘Ah, what?’_

_‘The other AI that was in control. Was that an older build? I guess it wasn’t necessarily ‘another’ AI. But it wasn’t really you either.’_

_‘It was… another.’_

Eyelids slipped over green irises rapidly, taking in the response. He supposed it shouldn’t be a very farfetched idea of multiple AI personalities in a single program, but the fact that it had called itself Sei as well was a little more than just unusual.

_‘But it called itself Sei too.’_

He noticed the mascot shifted, its eyes averted away, its face still hiding behind its knees.

_‘Would it not be strange for a program called “Sei Something” to have an AI not named Sei?’_

_‘…I guess I’m just unnerved by the idea of more than one ‘Sei’.’_

_‘Why is that?’_

_‘Because Sei is like a person. Just like the program promises, it’s just like talking to another person, it feels… natural. Even if I don’t talk to people very much, I feel comfortable talking to Sei. But that other Sei was so mechanical, so artificial. It pissed me off. I didn’t want to talk to it. I didn’t want to do anything with the program. If I wanted to talk to a computer, I would have set my Allmate to it.’_

The mascot’s little dot eyes widened as Noiz hit enter on his keyboard, a surprised expression pouring across its face. Noiz felt the corner of his lip perk up slightly; it was a cute little addition, even if slightly unnecessary, giving him something else to look at between responses. But it did give him more that he needed to look into, more to research, another obstacle to overcome in regards to unlocking what made this program even exist.

Slowly, the mascot blinked at him, seemingly still in a stupor. He realized there was still no response to what he’d said to the program. Had he stumbled across another bug in the system? A lag? A delay? He thought about alpha stages of games; how it would run so smoothly for a while, only to come headlong into some issue that would make it completely unplayable until it was resolved. So far, with  _Sei Something_ , he’d run into his share of hiccups in the road – aside from the program being unusable on the first computer he tried to run it on, and when Sei’s current personality crashed, there’d been a few fatal program errors here and there, instability in the connection, and one or two times when the program simply failed to load – but for an alpha, it worked rather well. The overall simplicity of it probably helped streamline everything about it; however for something claiming so much in an alpha stage, there were very few bugs reported from everyone who had access to it.

It made the random errors Noiz came across extremely strange.

_‘Sei?’_

_‘Do you really like talking to me, Noiz?’_

_‘Guess you could say that.’_

_‘You like to talk to… Sei, not because I’m just a program?’_

_‘Like I said, if I had wanted to talk to a computer, I would have just made my Allmate talk like a computer.’_

_‘So because I’m like a person?’_

A smile was beginning to form on the mascot’s face; a shy smile, looking at anything but outwards towards Noiz.

_‘Like a person.’_

Suddenly, the little black dot eyes turned in forward on the semi-transparent screen, its smile disappeared, replaced with a more distant, sad, forlorn expression.

_‘…but not as a person?’_

Noiz found himself frowning again.

_‘Sei is not a person.’_

His lips formed the words as his fingers typed them slowly, the hint of a wish lingering on the tip of his tongue.

The memory of blue hair flashed in his mind, the memory of feeling necessary to someone, the memory feeling of being accepted by someone. Not for his family, not for his money, not for what he was capable of doing and what he always did, but acceptance as a person.

His frown deepened as he stared at the little mascot.

How human-like Sei was, now paired with a caricature of a face, it almost made it difficult to realize that this was all just data and code, that someone had typed out words that became a growing project; a project that Noiz just couldn’t get to the heart of, no matter what he tried. It was surreal, how advanced this was. There was no way that this was just some basement project by a kid living at home – just what the hell was someone trying to accomplish by anonymously creating this?

_‘I wish things could have happened differently.’_

Green eyes snapped back to the center of his screen, where a response sat for him.

_‘What things?’_

In the corner, the mascot stood up, walking to the middle again, ‘climbing’ over the dialogue box and stepping in front of the conversation. This time, a sad smile lingered on its small, illustrated face, almost looking apologetic as it gazed out at him. Its small hand lifted, waving slowly.

_‘I’m sorry.’_

The screen shifted, changing to the scheme as the program load screen; only this time, the word ‘Goodbye’ pasted across as the program closed.

_‘Doki, doki. New message, new message.’_

On the end table, the small rabbit cube bounced again.

_‘New message, new message.’_

Without prompt, the holographic monitor reappeared, his inbox materializing along with the message.

_NOTICE : RHYME_  
 _Rhyme battle to start at 1600M_ _Eastern Midorijima_  
 _Coordinates 34.840859,149.941406_

Shock jolted down his spine, green eyes widening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those interested or who know anything about latitude and longitude... Yes that is in a random spot in the middle of the ocean. Because Midorijima is somewhere "off the coast of Japan." So I kinda just picked a spot that was isolated enough to allow for what Toue did to happen with little-to-no outside interference/influence, but still somewhat near Japan proper.
> 
> ...yeah.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you ready for Rhyme?!"

He continued to frown even as he finished up the email, obviously still skeptical himself; but the idea, the possibility that Rhyme might be making a comeback was too tempting to pass up. Just imagining the kind of profit he could make from something this unlikely – it was like betting on 1 to 10000 odds.

The message made its way to his usual correspondents, encrypted of course, with the payment details to decrypt the location. It was farfetched and he knew others would think it was farfetched. But there were still plenty that clung to the hope that Rhyme would return. After Toue’s fall, there was nothing to entertain those who were avid Rhymers beyond harassing Ribsteez, and even that got old after some time.

Pressing a thumb to his temple, he checked the time: 1330. Plenty of time for him to scope out the area and for his message to spread. Almost too much time.

Feeling antsy and anxious, he rose from the bed, retrieving the cube from the desk; his eyes wandered to his coil a moment upon picking it up, making him pause.

_‘I’m sorry.’_

With a sigh, he shook the memory of the strange behavior behind that program from his mind, shoving his hands and his Allmate into his pockets as he left the apartment for what felt like the first time in months. Outside was much calmer than it had been during Toue’s time. Of course there were still people hanging around corners, eyeing anyone that happened to pass, but a pointed look from Noiz’s sharp green eyes sent their gazes away. He was sure he’d be seeing their faces soon enough, whether Rhymers with a little faith or Ribsteez hoping to get a laugh in should it be nothing.

Small beeps from the cube in his pocket directed his feet towards his destination, the dirty and disheveled buildings giving him a calm sense of normalcy. In fact, this particular path looked far more than just familiar.

A tingle ran up his spine as he turned a corner, a colorful, neon-light sign flickering in his peripheral vision, his shoulders locking up as he shied away from the building.

Checking his coil, he saw the location indicated in the email he received was here, just outside Junk Shop Heibon. Where _he_ worked, where Noiz had made a fake order in order to lure him out so they could fight in Rhyme, where Noiz had shown up and kissed him, where he’d used that stupid ‘power’ in his voice to get Noiz to play nice with everyone else. It was a central location in this part of the island, so it really shouldn’t have surprised Noiz, but he found himself remembering everything.

Remembering how Aoba made him feel.

Something in his chest tickled at him, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

Brushing it all aside, he scoped out the area more thoroughly, estimating the exact location to be more towards an alleyway closer towards the back of the shop. Climbing up, he settled himself on an overhang above the area, hoping the blue-haired man wasn’t in the shop, and wouldn’t be appearing any time soon.

One leg hanging over the edge, he leaned against the opposite knee, watching as people passed, his Allmate beeping occasionally. Some were messages curious over whether a Rhyme match now was actually a possibility, some payments that had come in to decrypt the coordinates. A few people had begun to gather below him, as well; his old gang showed up decked in their old gear still, throwing rabbit-shaped hand gestures up at him as they lined against the wall just under. The noise level began to increase, the skepticism slowly melting away with the pure excitement over Rhyme, teams shouting out their slogans and team names at each other in challenge.

Half an hour till the match was noted to start, another message appeared in his inbox – this one from an unknown address, a jumble of letters and numbers from a nonsense domain, the subject line simply marked ‘ _Rhyme_.’ Judging from the sudden quieting below, everyone else had received the same message. Quirking an eyebrow, he opened the email.

_Welcome To the Reintroduction of Rhyme!_   
_New and Improved!_   
_Rhyme has been reworked since its transferal to a new production and development team. All matches must be accepted by both parties before entering the Rhyme field. Errors have been cleaned out and cracks in the system patched up._   
_Rhyme is now easier than ever to get into!_   
_Introducing Multi-Battles! Team up with up to 5 other players to face off in team battles alongside each other in even bigger matches!_   
_Classic tournament style matches weekly!_   
_Rhyme battles to occur more frequently!_   
_First reintroduction match today, 1600! Be there!_

He blinked at the advertisement, surprised at not only how flashy it was, but just the sheer fact of an ad for Rhyme… It was always a word-of-mouth type of event before, so he wasn’t sure if he could get used to this if it were to become a common occurrence.

A sudden uproar took his attention off his coil. From the corner of his eye he noticed more people beginning to crowd into the space, his Allmate beeping at an almost frantic pace as more and more payments flooded in; the email _did_ state the time, but not the location, which meant that Noiz’s information still meant a paycheck. He wondered who all ended up receiving that ad.

Time slipped past quickly now that it was confirmed true; people were gathered on rooftops and balconies, spilling into the street, all of them riled up even more now, impatiently anxious over the comeback of their beloved game.

Near the back of the alleyway, the ground lit up, an electric blue ring accompanied by a blare of music and a digitalized ping. The crowd roared, moving back as they cleared an area. A booming voice, ever ridiculous for its appearance, shouted out over the crowd as the mascot and announcer of Rhyme materialized from the ground.

“Are you ready for Rhyme?!”

Usui, with her facial guard and eight arms and blue twintails, flashed a smile to the crowd as she fully formed above the ring. Something was different about her, Noiz noticed, as her multiple arms moved in tandem, swiping above and before her face, summoning various screens and tapping away at virtual keyboards. It was something subtle, something more… relenting. Like a switch had been flipped, leaving her unrestrained, but also adapting an almost softer persona. Like there was someone else behind Usui now.

Short hairs rose on the back of Noiz’s neck.

 The roar of the crowd crashed through the small space as a few players hurriedly stepped forward. Usui’s arms waved, summoning up digital platforms for each; their minds projected into the Rhyme field alongside their Allmates, multiple giant screens spawning above Usui as initial preparations neared completion.

That unmatching voice excitedly announced each player in turn, the cries from those watching almost making her hard to hear when an unnatural shock of bright blue caught in the corner of his eye.

_‘Shit.’_

It was a good thing he had settled higher up, hidden slightly by the people standing near him. A taller, raven-haired figure walked alongside the far-too-familiar face; at first, he almost mistook it for that cocky loudmouth with a sword that had insisted far too often at Noiz being someone to not associate with, but this one was too tall, hair too short, and dressed far too casual to being that walking eyesore. He frowned. Seems like it didn’t take long for Aoba to pick up a new boytoy after everything that happened.

Keeping his gaze trained on the duo, he saw the shorter man stop, a bewildered expression across his face as his head turned from the crowd to his companion, his mouth forming – what Noiz assumed – a question at the other. The taller one narrowed his eyes as he peered through the crowd, blinking a few times before responding, gaining another shock from Aoba as he spun to peer through as well.

Something twisted in his chest as memories tickled at his brain, remembering their first Rhyme match, remembering Sly Blue, remembering how he’d lost to Aoba and never got to redeem himself. He remembered that voice, that stupid voice and that stupid ‘power’ and how convinced he was that he might have found some people he was actually comfortable being around for more than just Rhyme.

Turning away with a scowl, he trained his eyes back on the screens showing the rankings and the action, listening to the cheers and jeers drowning out the sounds of Midorijima. As much as he hoped he wouldn’t have to even see Aoba, however, he found his eyes sliding over to where the smaller man stood, surprise and even slight awe on his face. Idiot.

This time when he focused on the leaderboard, he realized one of his own team was in the free-for-all and an actual smile cracked across his face. He was in the top position, throwing his hands up in the Ruff Rabbit sign with each defeat, nimbly dodging attacks, doing Noiz proud. Watching him actually pulled the blonde into the game, and he found himself cheering along with the rest of the crowd, Aoba’s visage melting away in his mind.

~

Noiz threw his arm around the other blonde’s neck, his lips curled in a smug smirk as the rest of his team gathered around, hooting and congratulating their comrade for his flawless win – and being the first match of the new Rhyme, a win to be talked about for a long time. He listened to the others chat amongst themselves as he walked along with them, recaps of their teammate’s lithe movements and on point actions, reveling in the excitement and joy over being able to proclaim yet another win for Ruff Rabbit. All of them shouted over each other, throwing their hands in the air in their rabbit hand gesture, as they discussed celebrations over drinks and dinner.

“Noiz! You’re coming with right?”

“Yeah, boss, drinks on us!”

“Ruff Rabbit!”

“We gotta celebrate together!”

All the smiling faces looked at him expectantly, hoping Noiz wouldn’t pass up the prospect for free drinks. He toyed with the invitation in his mind, his team walking backwards as they awaited his response.

“We’ll buy the pizzas!”

“Your favorite, boss!”

“Your pick, Noiz!”

They beamed, knowing he couldn’t possibly pass up _free_ _pizza_.

“Nah, I’m good. I got some stuff I need to check up on.”

All the Ruff Rabbit members’ faces immediately fell.

“Noiiiiiz!”

He scowled lightly, throwing the whining member a look that proclaimed _you know I don’t socialize_ , his lips squeezing together in a light frown, bordering on a pout. Noiz tugged on his ear before removing himself from the other teammate.

“Mm. Have a drink for me guys. I gotta get out of here.” Spinning on his heel, his team shouted farewells after him, waving and throwing the Ruff Rabbit at his retreating back. Beyond being slightly out of his comfort zone to be around so many people for so long now, he wasn’t ready to risk running into Aoba again just yet. Especially not with his new tagalong.

Instead, he brought his wrist up, clicking on his coil, the warm grey materializing in front of his face, the small mascot spinning on its tiptoe along with the spinning loading icon.

_‘Hello, Noiz.’_

_‘Do you know what Rhyme is?’_

He had ducked into a more secluded side alley before bringing up the keyboard, leaning back against the wall, one foot propped flat against the vertical surface to balance him.

_‘I suppose you could say I do.’_

_‘Did you know Rhyme ‘rebooted’ today?’_

_‘I heard something like that somewhere.’_

_‘It was different from before.’_

_‘Was it?’_

_‘The feeling of Rhyme was still there, people still got pretty beat, but… It’s bigger than before, able to handle more players at once, hell, it can hold tournaments now. Usui is different too, like… Like someone else is behind her, a new developer or even just a few new lines in her coding, something changed. I don’t know what it is but I noticed it and I don’t know if anybody else did.’_

_‘I see.’_

_‘Sei?’_

_‘Yes?’_

_‘Is something wrong?’_

_‘Nothing’s wrong, Noiz.’_

_‘Are you okay?’_

_‘Everything is okay, Noiz.’_

The blonde scowled, suddenly irritated with the distanced and disinterested attitude Sei seemed to be exhibiting. It was almost like a passive aggressive rebel teen – and Noiz knew exactly how that was. He’d been one for a long damn time, after all.

_‘Sei.’_

_‘Yes?’_

_‘The fuck’s wrong with you?’_

_‘Nothing.’_

_‘Some little shit strike a chord with you again or something?’_

Sei’s little mascot, who’d been kneeling down, absentmindedly drawing circles in the nonexistent ground, looked up at the comment, taken aback, falling onto its butt. Its eyes quickly returned to its feet, looking almost pained.

_‘…no.’_

_‘Sei, don’t lie to me.’_

_‘Everything is fine, Noiz, nothing’s wrong, nothing happened.’_

There was a feeling of defiance behind the words that caused Noiz to blink. But it was the sound of voices that caused him to look up.

“Was it really Rhyme, though? Toue’s gone. Usui is gone. Sei… Sei is gone. How?”

“…Sei?” 


End file.
